蠱 → 小過
Hexagram 18: Work on the Decayed → Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 4, 6).
Line 2
九二 幹母之蠱。不可貞。
Nine in the second place means: Setting right what has been spoiled by the mother. One must not be too persevering.
Line 4
六四 裕父之蠱。往見吝。
Six in the fourth place means: Tolerating what has been spoiled by the father. In continuing one sees humiliation.
Line 6
上九 不事王侯。高尚其事。
Nine at the top means: He does not serve kings and princes, Sets himself higher goals.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
執贄入朝，獻其狐裘；元戎爕安，沙漠以懽。
Bearing tribute one enters court, offering a fine fox-fur robe; the great commander makes peace -- the northern desert rejoices.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind beneath the mountain carries tribute forward, and the transformation rumbles as thunder above the mountain — the cautious excess of Small Exceeding. Bearing gifts, one enters the court and presents a fox-fur robe. The commander-in-chief brings peace; the frontier rejoices. The verse depicts successful diplomacy: tribute presented at court secures military pacification and border stability. The fox-fur robe — a luxury item of the steppe — suggests engagement with northern or western peoples. From Work on the Decayed to Small Exceeding, the small overstepping restores what grand gestures could not. Thunder above the mountain: exceeding in reverence, exceeding in frugality, exceeding in grief — the gentleman's slight excess in courtesy achieves what brute force cannot.
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